Blincos was my dive bar I used to frequent regularly, but it closed down early-ish last year. I haven't really found a place to replace it, and I'm curious to know if any of you people have a favorite place, and why it's your joint.

1/23/2014 10:00:46 AM

There was a bar called Freddy's Backroom and Bar that was around the corner from my apt from 2007 to 2010. It moved when they bulldozed the building to build the Barclays center. There had been a bar there since the 20's with Freddy's existing since the 80's.

It's still great but too far away to go often. It's just a great bar.

1/23/2014 10:08:14 AM

I hate to be all vinylbandit/thegoodlife3 about this, but Blincos was not a dive bar.

1/23/2014 10:10:28 AM

Just looked it up. Looks like a sports bar.

1/23/2014 10:20:55 AM

Dive Bar: A well-worn, unglamorous bar, often serving a cheap, simple selection of drinks to a regular clientele.
The term can describe anything from a comfortable-but-basic neighborhood pub to the nastiest swill-slinging hole.

I'd say the definition applies.

It was a sports bar, but never anything on a scale of a Ale House. We never had any problems getting seats around the bar, and there were rarely more than a couple dozen people in the whole joint. Never had to dress up to go, and knew most of the clientele by sight if not by name.

1/23/2014 10:25:20 AM

My husband agrees with Exiled. Blincos equals dive bar.

1/23/2014 10:27:08 AM

Edwards Mill Bar and Grill

pretty much your standard after-hours gin tank with better than average food

1/23/2014 10:30:50 AM

applebee's.

because there are no other places with a bar within 30 miles.

1/23/2014 10:32:23 AM

^^

I've tried that place. Man, it's so dark in there, plus (and it might just be me) but isn't the ceiling ridiculously low?

1/23/2014 10:36:23 AM

yep, it's low

1/23/2014 10:40:39 AM

Quote :

"Dive Bar: A well-worn, unglamorous bar, often serving a cheap, simple selection of drinks to a regular clientele. The term can describe anything from a comfortable-but-basic neighborhood pub to the nastiest swill-slinging hole. "

It was a sports bar. It had something like 635218 TVs, which while not making it glamorous, doesn't really make it basic either. The drinks were not cheap unless you were swilling the $3 bud light, but I don't think that counts as "cheap drinks"...that's more like "cheap beerurine"

The Goat, now *that* is a dive bar...the establishment is as nasty as it's customers. While Blincos did have some skeezy regulars, the establishment itself wasn't that gross.

1/23/2014 10:48:28 AM

Yeah ... Blincos is definitely not a dive. I wouldn't say Edwards Mill is either. Not that I am any more of an authority to define dive bar than you guys are.

1/23/2014 10:51:14 AM

My husband apparently was talking about the Blincos on Falls, not the one downtown.

1/23/2014 10:53:54 AM

Blinco's would most definitely fit the above definition of a dive.

1/23/2014 10:57:39 AM

^^ The only Blincos I know about was on Glenwood, near Pleasant Valley

Quote :

"Yeah ... Blincos is definitely not a dive. I wouldn't say Edwards Mill is either. Not that I am any more of an authority to define dive bar than you guys are"

Yeah I don't think Edwards Mill is a five bar either...just a relatively nice little neighborhood bar. Hell the decent food alone makes it pretty un-divey. Dive bars don't serve fucking Mahi Mahi. They sling strong $3 well drinks in little plastic cups at your dome.

1/23/2014 10:59:02 AM

Edward's Mill fits the criteria of 1) well-worn, 2) unglamorous, and 3) regular clientele.

It exceeds the criteria of cheap, simple selection of drinks.

So I can see where people would put it a level above "Dive".

The Goat is the poster child of "Dive Bar".

1/23/2014 11:00:34 AM

back bar at Philosopher's Stone and Courtyard Hooligans are my two dives in Charlotte.

Hooligans will probably get a face lift with the new ballpark and residential growth in that area. ,/]

1/23/2014 11:03:15 AM

Also going against Blinco's dive bar status were the 20 video games, two pool tables, shuffleboard table and other games...including fucking Skee-Ball (but I think they got rid of skee-ball for the last couple years)

1/23/2014 11:20:36 AM

Synapse blincos started out on falls and moved 9 or 10 years ago I think.

1/23/2014 11:23:57 AM

^^^ I've been to P-Stone, pretty cool bar. I always get a little lost in there though, it's a big sprawl of a joint. Dig the ping pong outside.

^^ I'm not sure why any of those would preclude Blinco's from having been a dive bar, but we get it you're a licensed authority on the criteria of what makes dive bars.

^ Yep

[Edited on January 23, 2014 at 11:28 AM. Reason : ]

1/23/2014 11:24:54 AM

yeah, P-Stone such a weird joint. If it's a nice day out you'll see the typical Charlotte crowd in sundresses and shorts outside enjoying bloody marys. But then you walk to the back bar, on the very same day, and enter a true dive with Charlotte's beaten down sad state holed up in the dark.

1/23/2014 11:27:51 AM

Quote :

"Synapse blincos started out on falls and moved 9 or 10 years ago I think."

Interesting...I wonder how long it was there because was on Glenwood for at least 6 years before it closed. Where was it, in the space the Falls Tap Room is in now?

Quote :

"I'm not sure why any of those would preclude Blinco's from having been a dive bar"

Any one on it's own sure, but all of them together with the 50 TVs and that makes it pretty un-divey IMO


So outside of the Goat, what other places in Raleigh qualify as true dive-bars?

1/23/2014 11:50:08 AM

yes, Blinco's was in the space that became Fall Taps Room

But Falls Tap Room is closed now too

1/23/2014 11:51:27 AM

No shit. Anything take it over yet? When did it close?

1/23/2014 11:52:14 AM

One could make a strong case for Mitch's being kind of dive-y. Sure, the food is quite good, but it's not gourmet. They don't have 800 beers on tap or fancy craft cocktails. It is definitely well-worn and has a regular clientele.

I don't think a bar has to be gross to qualify as a dive. Unglamourous != gross. Maybe having been in a movie would disqualify it from unglamourous, but that was 25 years ago.

[Don't get me wrong, Mitch's is probably my favorite bar in Raleigh, but I think the tag could fit.]

1/23/2014 12:06:13 PM

2^ I saw a new sign up the other day but cant remember the name.

1/23/2014 12:07:13 PM

I think the bar at the Crowley's on Lake Boone Trail qualifies as a dive bar.

But I think I heard it closed. Can anybody confirm?

The Bison on Wake Forest is kinda divey.

1/23/2014 12:15:23 PM

Is that the place near Sushi Thai? Not sure...last time I was there I think it was called The 19th Hole or some shit.

1/23/2014 12:16:57 PM

^nah, i made a mistake, I meant "Dixie Trail" (not Lake Boone). Crowley's is in the neighborhood a few blocks off of Hillsborough.

1/23/2014 12:19:28 PM

Duffy's on Falls was pretty divey

Quote :

"I think the bar at the Crowley's on Lake Boone Trail qualifies as a dive bar. But I think I heard it closed. Can anybody confirm?"

I know the owner died a few years ago. Wouldn't be surprised if the son ran it into the ground...


It sounds like it was closed, but has opened back up. I'd bet they own the property so it seems like you'd have to try to screw that up


[Edited on January 23, 2014 at 12:25 PM. Reason : ]

1/23/2014 12:21:55 PM

The Bison and the Goat are run by the same folks, and I think they have one more bar somewhere in the area.

1/23/2014 12:22:43 PM

Quote :

"One could make a strong case for Mitch's being kind of dive-y. Sure, the food is quite good, but it's not gourmet. They don't have 800 beers on tap or fancy craft cocktails. It is definitely well-worn and has a regular clientele."

personally, I don't think a place that serves food (especially good food) should qualify as a dive bar, but maybe that's just me

and dive bars are a dying breed. I can't even think of any around. I'd say the Goat is a just a shit-bar, but I'm better with calling that a dive than I am a restaurant

1/23/2014 12:25:27 PM

lol, anyone thinking the Blincos on glennwod fits the dive bar model apparently, has never been to a real dive bar.

1/23/2014 12:25:46 PM

Oh yeah the Bison is very divey...forgot about that place. Killer location across the street from Snoopy's (but I wouldn't wanna frequent that place)

Quote :

"personally, I don't think a place that serves food (especially good food) should qualify as a dive bar"

agreed, on the last part at least

Quote :

"and dive bars are a dying breed. I can't even think of any around. I'd say the Goat is a just a shit-bar"

Yeah I guess to some "dive bar" is term of affection...I think of it more in the general sense.

How about "The Dive Bar"...did that qualify as a Dive Bar?

[Edited on January 23, 2014 at 12:30 PM. Reason : ]

1/23/2014 12:27:06 PM

Has anyone every been to the Bull and Bear on Six Forks near the Galaxy? Seems like it could be divey, but it was hard to see through the clouds of cigarette smoke that poured out the one time I opened the door there so I'm unsure

1/23/2014 12:33:24 PM

^oh yeah, i went there a while back when i was waiting for a movie. they had shitty food too. it was pretty divey.

and my experience with the bison has been pretty good. it attracts an ecletic crowd.

[Edited on January 23, 2014 at 12:36 PM. Reason : ]

1/23/2014 12:35:23 PM

PB's was pretty damn divey...so was that place up the building from there

1/23/2014 12:37:02 PM

while I've still never been, plenty of people call the Office Tavern a dive

and from what I do know about it, I'd say it's the closest to my own definition

another qualifier is that the bar has to have been around since at least the 80's

[Edited on January 23, 2014 at 12:38 PM. Reason : building, not name/owner]

1/23/2014 12:37:55 PM

Hard for me to understand how bars survive in strip malls? Does everyone just drive drink?

1/23/2014 12:47:16 PM

How could we forget about the Jackpot?

1/23/2014 12:47:35 PM

that was the first thing i thought about, but it's gone (finally)

[Edited on January 23, 2014 at 12:50 PM. Reason : ]

1/23/2014 12:50:17 PM

I never minded the Jackpot the couple times I went, I disliked the clientele more.

1/23/2014 1:54:37 PM

Quote :

"back bar at Philosopher's Stone and Courtyard Hooligans are my two dives in Charlotte."

I love philosopher's stone... i'll have to hit you up next time im in town


in raleigh, my go to spots were bada and ruckus - not sure if either apply, but they aren't full of frills and both definitely have their regulars



down here in Gville, I'm digging Tie Breakers and Christies Europub (the latter really reminds me of an original, pre-remodel ruckus feel)

1/23/2014 1:58:58 PM

Don't get me wrong, i had some really good times at the Jackpot, I just wasn't sad to see it go.

Isn't The Penguin in Charlotte kind of divey? I only went once, many years ago, and my memory of it is pretty fuzzy.

1/23/2014 2:00:44 PM

also: The penguin is a restaurant. they close early and have 4-5 beers on tap. definitely not a dive

1/23/2014 2:07:52 PM

They close early? I thought I remember being there pretty late.

1/23/2014 2:10:04 PM

Quote :

"plenty of people call the Office Tavern a dive"

It really is.

Other Dives:
The Goat, Bison Bar, and Ugly Monkey are all owned by the same people.
Slim's, Havoc (if it's still open), and maybe even Lucky B's all count too.

1/23/2014 2:10:19 PM

i thought the original owners of the ugly monkey sold it to a couple and now run the bison? or is it all under the same management now?

1/23/2014 2:11:42 PM

isn't there some dive bar back in the neighborhood off of glenwood south?

1/23/2014 2:11:52 PM

Quote :

"They close early? I thought I remember being there pretty late."

ah i just checked, they do stay open till 2 on Fridays and Saturdays.

1/23/2014 2:13:49 PM